Rabat (AFP)
The Moroccan Football Association announced its “by mutual consent” separation from the coach of the “Atlas Lions”, Bosnian-French Vahid Halilhodzic, nearly three months before the start of the 2022 World Cup.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation said in a statement that this decision came “in view of the differences and divergent visions, on the best way to prepare the national football team for the World Cup finals.”
The statement did not indicate the identity of the coach who will succeed Halilhodzic, stressing that the federation will provide all means and capabilities for the good preparation of the national team. On the horizon for his participation in the World Cup finals.
He expressed his sincere thanks for what the coach, Mr. Vahid Halilhodzic, provided during the period in which he supervised the leadership of the national team, foremost of which was qualifying for the 2022 World Cup with a promising young team full of great future ambitions.
The veteran coach managed to lead the Moroccan national team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, where it faces Belgium, Croatia and Canada, but he entered into a dispute with the Moroccan Federation due to his refusal to call up Chelsea striker Hakim Ziyech for disciplinary reasons.
There were conflicting statements between the president of the Moroccan Football Association, Faouzi Lekjaa and Khalildzic, on the matter. Whenever the first came out to confirm the return of the Chelsea star, the Bosnian responded, clinging to the exclusion decision.
His departure has been the subject of frequent rumors in the local media in recent months, with reference to the possibility of replacing him with former Wydad Casablanca coach Walid Regragui.
Halilhodzic, who started his career with Morocco in the summer of 2019, was criticized by local media because of his tactical choices and the team’s squad, especially after his failure to go far in the African Nations Cup that was held in Cameroon early last year, where the team’s journey ended at the quarter-finals on Egypt 1-2 after extension.
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